Public Defender with a Pen
Political cartoonist Randy Molton fights every day for free speech
In the cartoon below, to get a sense of our nation’s future you don’t have to know that these men are President Biden, Donald Trump and Elon Musk. But you probably see yourself as the person clinging to a grim-faced Father Time.
Joseph O’Neill wrote about this frightened American after November’s election, in The New York Review of Books:
Must the opposition again be borne by our concerned citizenry, exhausted and dispirited after a decade of extraordinary civic effort? Now at the mercy of Trump’s will, we will need courage, imagination, adaptability, disruptiveness - and new tactics.
The Democrats should set up a political operations unit to coordinate anti-GOP actions nationwide, the way Fox News does for Republicans.
O’Neill is talking about boldly using the media for propaganda - not for lies, but to show the real dangers facing our democracy. In our internet culture, the best message is visual, quickly scanned, and emotional. It’s time to focus again on political cartoons.
Last week I invited cartoonist Randy Molton to share some of his recent work for this post. In his example below, he calls out the cruel politics that Republican officials played with government aid after hurricane Helene devastated Western North Carolina in September. FEMA had to cut its way through their barriers.
Another example, below, shows how the media’s negative publicity affected the area’s fall tourist season, an annual economic necessity.
Randy Molton grew up in Hendersonville, NC. He got into political cartooning at the Art Institute of Atlanta, and took a course by Atlanta Journal cartoonist Lou Erikson. Having returned to Western North Carolina, in 1995 his cartoons began appearing in the Asheville Mountain Xpress.
He’s made it his business to study the news and to speak for the people affected by local, and often state and national, events. I asked him, when covering serious subject matter as he does, should political cartoonists try to make people laugh? He said,
Mostly, yes, but they should also make people think.
Should they try to “lighten the mood”?
I aim for darkening the mood with humor. Dark humor and political cartooning should go together.
An effective political artist is going to provoke opinions, not only in the readers but also in the public figures they portray, so I asked Molton about upcoming challenges in his field. He said,
Yes, there will be a challenge to free speech in our country, but that won't stop me from utilizing it with my cartoons.
In my view, he is one of an army of creative public defenders all over our country who deserve public support.
Political cartoonists and other social critics have always faced powerful obstacles. Molton agrees:
Cartoonists have been undervalued. Corporate ownership is more biased than ever and is to blame. They want cartoonists to be obsequious because we shouldn't draw something provocative to piss off readers and advertisers . Then again, controversy sells, but in many cases, they just don't want you to cross that line. With the decline of newspaper readership, they probably view it as a necessity for survival, too.
He went on to say,
I am a big fan of independent journalism with an emphasis on investigative reporting, to hold the politicians' feet to the fire of accountability. While I realize that advertisers are important to news outlets, there should also be room for hard-hitting commentary and social satire without censorship. Without that a publication sinks to the innocuous level of a shoppers guide.
I have a personal reason to appreciate this artist’s satire. In 2018, Sam Edney ran for the North Carolina State House of Representatives and was the target of Molton’s friendly fire. I still smile when I remember Sam’s alleged promise to “increase our taxes by more than 270%!”
Look for Molton’s work in the Asheville Mountain Xpress and on Facebook. He is someone to read, to follow and to share. Right now.
These are great! Thanks Deda for introducing his work to me. Me favorites are the Robert's Court and the People who vVted for Trump.
Long live Political Cartoonists!
Your postcard is excellent, Deda! Many thanks!!